Thaxted Sticky Tea Loaf

Three words to describe this tea loaf: sticky, fruity, delicious.  Spread some butter on it, pour a cup of tea and its the perfect accompaniment for your three o'clock tea break.

A slice of tea loaf - tea time sorted!

The recipe comes from a book given to my brother and me (my brother being my current lodger!) by some good family friends of ours who live in the beautiful Essex town of Thaxted.  The recipe book is called (pun alert!) "On a Chicken Wing and a Prayer", being a cookery book sold to raise funds for the ongoing restoration of Thaxted Parish Church.  All the recipes have been donated by people from the town; I am very grateful to whoever donated the recipe for this tea loaf!


"On a Chicken Wing and a Prayer" - Recipes from Thaxted Parish Church

The recipe is wonderfully simple.  To be honest I made it on a slight whim, having an urge to bake something and realising that all the ingredients were items I had - tea, mixed fruit, brown sugar, self-raising flour, an egg and cinnamon.

The fruit and sugar are soaked in tea overnight.  I think next time I make this I will be a bit braver and make the tea stronger.  I'm having friends over at the weekend, which I think will be the perfect excuse to make this delicious loaf for a second time.  I may even let them eat it before three o'clock tea time!


The finished loaf - already half gone!